After Review, Army Upgrades Honors for Fallen Sergeant

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: March 21, 2004

PORTLAND, Ore., March 20 — The Army will posthumously award a Silver
Star for distinguished gallantry to an Oregon soldier who fought in an
Iraqi ambush a year ago that also involved Pfc. Jessica Lynch. His
family believes he was the soldier who fought to the last in a firefight
at the beginning of the war.

The soldier, Sgt. Donald R. Walters of Salem, was killed in the
ambush of the 507th Army Maintenance Company that left 11 American
soldiers dead and six captive, including Private Lynch. Sergeant
Walters, 33, may have been the first casualty in the March 23, 2003,
firefight.

He had initially been awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Representative Darlene Hooley, Democrat of Oregon, said Friday that the
Army would award Sergeant Walters the Silver Star, a higher honor.

The medal follows an Army review of the ambush prompted by Ms. Hooley
and Sergeant Walters's mother, Arlene Walters.

"I was hoping that they would come out and say that brave
American soldier who emptied his weapon was actually my son," Ms.
Walters said Friday. "But I don't think they can say that. Giving
him this award means they know what he did."

After her rescue, Private Lynch, of Palestine, W.Va., said she did
not fire a shot.

Her injuries resulted from a Humvee crash during the firefight in
Nasiriya, Iraq, just days into the war that began a year ago Friday.

Sergeant Walters's wounds, however, were consistent with the initial
description of Private Lynch's actions. An autopsy report showed he died
from a gunshot and two stab wounds to the abdomen.

Arlene Walters filed a Freedom of Information request in November
asking the Pentagon to determine if her son's actions had been
mistakenly attributed to Private Lynch in media reports.

In a statement Friday, Ms. Hooley said the Army investigation
"made it clear that a lone American fighter did, indeed, hold out
against the Iraqi troops."